Sugar tolerance and gut health
Sugar, sugar tolerance and gut health
More and more people are suffering from sugar intolerances. Lactose, fructose and even the sugar substitutes cause stomachache, bloating, diarrhoea or constipation in many people. Even depressive disorders are often a concomitant effect of bowel diseases.
The mechanism is always the same: sugar cannot be absorbed in the small intestine as intended, and thus gets into the large intestine. There it is fermented by the gut bacteria, which causes gases to form.
The osmotic relationship is disturbed and fluid flows into the intestine. The result: diarrhoea. With constipation the bowel is very lethargic and the stool is transported very slowly. The longer it stays in the large intestine, the more water is extracted from it and the harder it gets. This is what causes the problems mentioned above.
How do sugar intolerances develop?
Lactose intolerance is genetically determined for the larger part of the world population, especially for Asians, and is “normal” after the end of infancy.
Most of us Europeans tolerate lactose well. In our case, lactase, which breaks down the lactose so that it can be reabsorbed in the small intestine, remains in our bodies after infancy.
However, if we don’t consume lactose for long periods of time, the lactase disappears and we become lactose intolerant. Fortunately, this type of intolerance can be reversed. However, there are also pathological, inflammatory processes that cause the lactose to not be absorbed properly.
There is nothing “normal” about fructose malabsorption. In this case the fructose transporter is defective. Possible triggers could be: overload or inflammation in the intestine, defective intestinal mucosa, unfavourable colonisation of the intestine and stress.
Most of the time, these relationships are mutually beneficial. People affected by this condition have to give up these sugars completely, and possibly other foods as well, for a while. It is important to develop an individual treatment concept in every case.
How can you support your gut?
As the causes are not yet fully understood, we won’t discuss how to prevent sugar intolerances, but rather how to support gut health.. Foods rich in fibre, such as fruits and vegetables, play a particularly important role here.
Dietary fibres, also known just as fibre, are indigestible carbohydrates. You get fibrous dietary fibres like cellulose, which goes through the intestine like a broom, and there are soluble, swellable, slimy types of dietary fibre. They aid digestion and ensure good stools. They are also called prebiotics, as they feed our good intestinal bacteria, the probiotics.
Regularly consuming fresh fruits and vegetables (two servings of fruit, three servings of vegetables a day) promotes the growth of good intestinal bacteria. Too much sugar and white flour products combined with too little dietary fibre result in the growth of unfavourable gut bacteria. You can also absorb the good bacteria directly by eating probiotic foods such as white yogurt, kefir or fresh sauerkraut.
What are the benefits of a healthy gut?
The intestinal mucosa is the largest frontier with the outside environment in the body. It protects you against undesirable invaders and ensures that important nutrients are absorbed.
A healthy gut does not only strengthen digestion, but your entire immune system. We are learning more and more about how strongly the brain communicates with the intestine via nerve fibres; this is called the gut-brain connection.
This means that a healthy gut also affects your motivation and performance. Conversely, getting enough sleep and coping well with stress have a positive effect on your digestion.
Homework:
Do a three-day gut healing in which you follow these rules:
- Eat two portions of fresh fruit and three portions of fresh or steamed vegetables per day.
- Drink 1.5 to two litres of water or unsweetened tea over the course of the day.
- Cut out white flour products and sugar.
- Cut out alcohol.
- Make sure you get seven to nine hours of sleep.
- Exercise as often as possible – and at least five to ten minutes intensively at least once a day (e.g. climbing stairs).
Maybe you’ll feel so good after the three days that you don’t want to stop!
Three sweet tips
Three sweet tips for good looks:
Spoil your skin with a beauty treatment!
People with skin diseases like psoriasis very quickly notice the positive effect that giving up sugar has on the skin. It is not quite clear yet how this works.
It could also be explained by the fact that inflammatory processes in the intestine can be reduced by consuming less sugar. But even if you don’t notice any pathological reactions to sugar in yourself, you should treat your skin to a little beauty treatment every now and then.
These three tips will give you a radiantly healthy appearance!
Less Sugar
Tip 1: Less sugar to combat wrinkles:
Eating less sugar not only protects you against many chronic diseases, but it also gives you a young and radiant complexion. Studies show that AGE’S (Advanced Glycation Endproducts) are formed at high blood sugar levels. AGE’s are protein-sugar compounds that cause inflammation.
This also affects the skin directly, because the proteins responsible for skin elasticity, such as collagen and elastin, are also saccharified. After UV radiation and smoking, sugar is the third largest influencing factor in premature aging of the skin.
Tip 2: Less sugar for a radiant smile:
Sugar causes caries and inflammation of the gums. Even if it’s not the latest scientific discovery, this simple cause- and -effect relationship is the best illustration of the damage sugar can do to your health.
So you can imagine the negative effect that high sugar consumption has on your entire metabolism if that is what it does to your mouth. If you want to protect your teeth and gums, you should control your sugar intake and, of course, brush your teeth regularly.
Tip 3: Sugar for clean skin:
What can you do with all the sugar in your kitchen that you’re saving by reducing your intake? Use it in a wonderfully refreshing facial peel, for example! To do this, simply mix a little sugar and olive oil together, add a little lemon juice as desired, and spread the peeling over your skin in a circular motion. This removes impurities and loosens old skin cells.
Managing your sugar
You have now learnt which of the foods that you consume daily are high in sugar. You are also familiar with the role that sugar plays in your body and the risks associated with high sugar consumption.
You are able to quantify the amount of sugar that you eat and know why it’s so difficult to reduce your sugar intake. You can also distinguish between sugar alternatives and use them wisely.
This knowledge enables you to manage your sugar consumption!
Do you feel that you need to reduce your sugar intake?
Not? Then the best case scenario is that you don’t need to because you’re already eating healthy and exercising enough: Congratulations!
Or maybe you lack incentives? Maybe you can be motivated by the benefits, such as the good looks and increased performance resulting from lower sugar consumption, or the risks associated with higher sugar consumption, such as arteriosclerosis and diabetes.
What’s important, is that you’re doing it for YOU. You are worth it!
Yes, you would like to reduce your sugar intake?
In that case, there are two important things you should do:
1. Check your critical foods. What do you eat?
2. Check your critical situations. Why do you eat?
1. Dealing with critical foods:
“Quantity makes the poison.”
Consider how you can really appreciate sweets by eating them in the right quantities. Take time to appreciate them using all your senses, for example by doing the enjoyment test with one piece of chocolate.
“The secret lies in the combination.”
It’s always good to consume sugar together with other food so that your blood sugar level doesn’t fluctuate so much and you don’t get hungry again as quickly.
“Alternatives”
Maybe you can satisfy your sweet tooth with an apple? Is sugar in coffee your thing? Could you have less sugar or maybe replace it with a sugar substitute like erythritol or xylitol?
Be creative and try to find the solution that works for you.
2. Dealing with critical situations:
Think about which situations cause you to eat more than you would like. What triggers this behaviour?
Is it to reward yourself?
Then try to find other things to reward yourself with. How does a hot bath sound, for example? A walk, calling a friend?
Do you eat because you’re stressed? Would relaxation exercises help?
Is it your environment that drives you to sweets? Is there a bowl with candy at work? Can you put a bowl with fruit next to it? Or maybe replace the candy bowl with the fruit bowl? We often think we must eat what others eat to be nice.
Tell the people that are leading you into temptation about your sugar management. Most people respect and understand that. If you do get some spiteful comments, they’ll probably be from envious people who don’t have the same willpower.
Remember that changing your eating habits is always a process. It’s human to have little “slip-ups”. Don’t throw in the towel, just keep on pursuing your goal!